Ariel Loh’s score for Nick Pesce’s 2016 horror film The Eyes of My Mother is a haunting and atmospheric body of work, foundationally minimalist with a potency far more intense than the most bombastic of film scores. It’s been out for a few years in a stunning, limited-edition vinyl package courtesy of the inimitable Waxwork Records, but now it’s finally out on digital platforms via If This Then Records. Celebrate the fifth anniversary of the film by diving into the stream.
In addition to Spotify, there are also other ways to experience this extraordinary release digitally.
Loh is a celebrated producer and member of frequently Vehlinggo-covered band (and Vehlinggo Presents contributors) Drinker. Here’s what he had to say about the score in a statement this week:
Five years ago, I found myself in Park City, Utah as a first-timer at Sundance Film Festival. I was neither a film buff or a self-identifying composer. I was in attendance for the film, The Eyes Of My Mother, for which I had recorded some ambient improvisations and minimal pieces for my then-roommate, and the film’s director, Nicolas Pesce. That score became my foot in the door into the world of composing for film.”
You can get more insight from him on the score from this interview we did back in 2018, when Waxwork did the vinyl release.
About The Eyes of My Mother
The film is a stark, black-and-white tale about a young, lonely woman (played by Kika Magalhães) in a farmhouse who has her fun in horrifying ways. Loh’s score deftly complements that imagery. Each cue uses only a few synth parts or acoustic instrument expressions — sometimes with the slightest bit of percussion — and the music sounds greyscale in the most captivating of ways. Both the film and its score are able to pull extraordinary meaning from all of this.
Don’t sleep on the digital release. You can stream it via a variety of platforms.
